1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an emergency device for use during a building fire, and more particularly to a smoke detector for alerting occupants of a room in a multistory structure when fire breaks out, in combination with air bags which are automatically exposed to assist the occupants in escaping to safety while breathing clean air captured within the air bags.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has become increasingly evident that, in spite of stricter building codes, there are still many problems and difficulties being encountered in providing fire-safe structures, particularly with respect to high-rise office and hotel buildings. It is well known that these buildings must be provided with fire protective means, such as alarm systems, sprinklers and emergency exits. However, very often an alarm system itself becomes inoperable during a fire and a sprinkler system might lack water pressure at the upper levels. This has been noted recently in each of several fires in high-rise buildings where many persons perished--not because of the fire itself but because there was a lack of emergency instructions and related equipment to prevent unnecessary harm to the exposed and/or trapped individuals.
As an example, the following is an analysis resulting from a fire emergency relating to a high-rise multistory hotel and the guests therein.
Preservation of the lives of hotel guests, especially in high-rise structures, rests upon three main factors--and, as an analogy, we will refer to these as the three legs of a tripod.
The first leg in the tripod is the structure of the building itself--the presence or absence of fire-impedance walls, amount and locations of flammable materials, alarm systems, sprinklers and emergency exits. The emergency training of the hotel staff is also included.
The second leg of the tripod is the quality of the local fire department. Both the quality and the amount of equipment, and the training and numbers of the firefighters are to be considered.
These first two factors are dealt with--and with varying degrees of effectiveness--by local building and safety codes, by the willingness of hotel owners to exceed code requirements, and by taxpayer support of the local fire department.
The third and most neglected leg of the tripod is the behavior of the hotel guest caught in such a fire. In a high-rise office building, fire drills can be imposed on a relatively stable number of employees who will at least be aware of the possiblity and have some idea of what to do, including how to exit the building. In a hotel, however, we are dealing with a constantly changing population of guests, most of whom are unaware of any potential danger, and the hotel management that is trying to make guest accommodations as pleasant as possible and do not go out of their way to make the guests aware of basic safety facts. Indeed, in some resort areas hotel management avoids even bringing up the spector of fire or other danger. Very often, there are also few or no fire extinguishers provided, there are minimally marked fire exits, and there are no emergency plans for guests which would allude to the possibility of danger.
In the tripod analogy, safety of the hotel guests rests on all three legs; and failure of anyone of those legs will almost certainly increase the possibility of guest injury or death. Firstly, if the fire department is of top quality and the guests are informed as to fire safety--but if the building is poorly constructed of flammable material, and with no safety features--a disaster is waiting to occur. Secondly, if the building is of top quality, meeting or exceeding the code standards, and the guests are reasonably prepared--but the fire department does not arrive quickly, or know what to do--unnecessary deaths will result. Thirdly, if the building is as safe as possible, and the fire department has the best training and equipment available--but the guests panic and jump out of windows--the end result is the same.
As a result of recent hotel fires, emphasis has been placed on stricter building codes, thus improving the safety features for guests--such as less flammable plastics, better fire impedance, more alarms, more sprinklers, etc. Local fire departments are also taking another long hard look at the high-rise building and how to cope with the inevitable fires.